India’s telecom minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw said in Lok Sabha that Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is planning to install 1.12 lakh mobile towers across India to roll out 4G services. According to a PTI report, during the question hour, Vaishnaw said that the homegrown 4G network is being appreciated worldwide and it has a core network, radio network, and full telecom equipment. The minister said that BSNL is in the process of ordering 6000 towers immediately followed by 6000 more and then finally 1 lakh towers to be installed throughout the nation for 4G network. In addition to this, Vaishnaw informed that telecom service providers fiberise their base transceiver stations (BTSs) installed on mobile towers and 7,93,551 BTSs have been connected with optical fiber. The number is fairly low compared to the total mobile towers there are in the country. For 5G to be a success and better 4G experience, more towers need to be connected with fiber. Earlier, Vaishnaw had said that BSNL would make its order for 4G equipment in April 2022. But no solid confirmation around this has come from the state-run telco yet. In addition to 4G, BSNL is also planning to launch 5G later this year. During the 4G trials, BSNL was also working on 5G. A C-DoT (Centre for Development of Telematics) official had earlier said that BSNL will launch 5G NSA in 2022 followed by 5G SA in 2023. What will really happen, only time will tell as there are always delays when things concern BSNL.
4G Internet Connectivity Inside Trains to Come With 5G
When asked about 4G internet service inside the trains, Vaishnaw said that it won’t be possible till the time 5G arrives in the country. The reason that the telecom minister gave for this was if the train is running at 100 km per hour, then a 5G network is needed to provide seamless internet connectivity inside the trains.
